Chamber for degassing substrates

ABSTRACT

A heater or cooler chamber for a batch of more than one workpiece includes a heat storage block. In the block a multitude of pockets are provided, whereby each of the pockets may be closed or opened by a controllably operated door. A heater or cooler arrangement is applied. The pockets are tailored to surround a workpiece applied therein in a non-contact closely spaced manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Degassing means the removal of gases, especially (i) gases fromevaporated liquids like water or (ii) vapours that result fromsublimating materials adhering to surfaces or (iii), in vacuumtechnology, substances that are outgassing from (bulk) material as soonas the surrounding pressure falls below its vapour pressure. In certainvacuum treatment processes, especially vacuum sputter coating processesdegassing is an important process step, since residual gases may resultin deteriorated adhesion of deposited layers or unwanted by-products inthe deposits.

One differentiates between atmospheric and sub-atmospheric degassing. Asthe term suggests, sub atmospheric degassing takes place in anenvironment where the surrounding pressure can be lowered belowatmospheric pressure.

It is known that degassing can be accelerated by heating the substratesthus enhancing the outgassing rate. This method may however have itslimits for certain types of materials (e.g. plastics) or where theresult of previous process steps could be (negatively) affected, such asmelting solder bumps, warping of substrates or increased unwanteddiffusion processes. Pump capacities may be improved to more quicklyremove unwanted vapours and gases. However the physics of the outgassingprocess itself remains the main limiting factor. In order to avoid thatin an inline processing system with a sequence of defined process stepsthe degassing of a single substrate becomes the determining factor forthe throughput, degassing is sometimes organized in batches. In otherwords, a plurality of substrates is being exposed jointly to anenvironment that assists the degassing. Such a batch degasser thus alsoacts as an intermediate storage for substrates

Consequently, there is a need for an apparatus for degassing substrates,shortly “degasser”, for (highly) outgassing substrates in a batch toenable longer outgassing times without the need to sacrifice throughputin subsequent processes.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Some substrates like laminated substrates, polymer matrix substrateswith embedded dies (fan-out) or substrates on tape require extendeddegassing time prior to subsequent vacuum processes, like PVD. Adegasser for highly outgassing substrates in a batch is enabling longeroutgassing times without the need to sacrifice throughput in thefollowing process sequences, which may be single substrate processes,like in a cluster tool.

DRAWBACKS IN PRIOR ART

Batch degassers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,734 B1, U.S. Pat.No. 7,431,585 B2 and US 20110114623 A1. All these variants address aplurality of individual heater plates for each substrate; see FIG. 1 andFIG. 2. The disadvantages of stacked heater plates are the high costsand the required space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus a specific objective of the present invention to propose abatch degassing system that is efficient and inexpensive in terms ofmanufacturing, maintenance and operation.

To resolve the addressed objective the present invention proposes adegasser chamber for a batch of more than one substrates which comprisesa heat storage block made of a single metal part or of more than onethermally narrowly coupled metal parts. The block comprises more thanone pocket and in each such pocket a substrate support for a substrate.Each pocket has a substrate handling opening in a surface of the block.Each pocket is tailored to surround the respective substrate applied onits substrate support in a non-contact closely spaced manner. Thesubstrate handling openings of the pockets are operatively connected toa respective door, which controllably frees and obstructs the respectivesubstrate handling opening. There is further provided a heater interfaceto the addressed block.

Thus a solution of the addressed objective is presented which isspecifically addressing degassing. As perfectly clear to the skilledartisan this solution may be exploited more generically for heatingand/or cooling a batch of more than one workpieces. Further each pocketmay have more than one handling opening, e.g. one for loading the pocketand one for unloading the pocket.

Thereby a more generalised objective is resolved, namely to propose abatch heat treatment system that is efficient and inexpensive in view ofmanufacturing maintenance and operation.

Thus, under a more generic aspect, the solution according to theinvention is a heater and/or cooler chamber for a batch of more than oneworkpieces, especially equal workpieces, especially substrates,especially a degasser heater-chamber for such a batch, especially ofsubstrates. Such chamber comprises a heat storage block made of a singlemetal part or of more than one thermally narrowly coupled metal parts.The block comprises more than one pocket and in each such pocket aworkpiece support for a workpiece. Each pocket has at least oneworkpiece handling opening. The handling openings are located in arespective surface of the block.

Each pocket is tailored to surround a workpiece on its workpiece supportin a non-contact, closely spaced manner.

Thereby a good heat exchange from the block to the workpiece or from theworkpiece to the block is achieved.

Each of the at least one workpiece handling openings of the pocket isoperatively connected to a door which controllably frees and obstructsthe respective workpiece handling opening. The term “obstructing”addresses that the respective door may close the workpiece handlingopening in a gas-tight manner or may, in “obstructing” position, stillestablish a gas leakage between the pocket volume and the surrounding ofthe block.

A heater and/or cooler interface to the addressed block is provided,i.e. a thermally highly conductive surface-area whereat heater and/orcooler-means or -fluids may be brought in tight thermal contact with theblock.

The pockets wherein the workpieces are heat treated are provided in theblock, are e.g. machined into the block. The block is a heat storageblock, i.e. acts as a heat reservoir, ensuring, once thermal equilibriumhas been reached in the block, that the heating or cooling effect in thepockets is kept substantially constant. Freeing and obstructing of theworkpiece handling openings has negligible effect on the thermal stateof the block.

In an embodiment of the chamber according to the invention the chambercomprises a heater and/or cooler arrangement which is provided in or ata distinct outer area of the block. The thermal characteristics of theblock make it possible to provide the heater and/or cooler merely at thedistinct outer areas of the block. This in opposition to having e.g. anetwork of tubes, channels e.g. for a liquid cooling and/or heatingfluid, or of wiring for electric heating worked into the block, which isby far more costly and complicated.

In an embodiment of the chamber according to the invention the chambercomprises a gas feed line arrangement which dispatches in at least some,or in each of the pockets.

Through such a gas feed line arrangement a flushing gas stream may beestablished through the pockets and/or the respective pocket may bepressurised to improve heat transfer from the pocket to the workpiece orvice versa. The latter is especially utilized when the heat treatment inthe block is established in a surrounding vacuum atmosphere.

In an embodiment of the chamber according to the invention each of thepockets, or at least some of the pockets, are obstructed by therespective door in a gas tight manner. In one embodiment each of thepockets or at least some of the pockets are then still provided with agas outlet.

This is e.g. realised by a desired leakage of the obstructing doors.Such a gas outlet is e.g. established whenever a gas is to be fed intothe pocket as a flushing gas and is to be flown along the workpiece andout of the pocket during thermal treatment.

It is also possible to construe one and the same door to be able toprovide the obstruction selectively i.e. in a gas-tight manner or leaky,e.g. by respective door-closing-control.

In one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention at leastsome or all the pockets are aligned in one direction along the blocki.e. along one of the spacial x, y, z coordinates.

In one embodiment at least some or all the at least one openings of thepockets are aligned considered in one direction, i.e. along one of thespacial x, y, z coordinates, thereby especially in the same direction inwhich the respective pockets are aligned.

Thereby handling of the workpieces to and from the respective pockets bymeans of respective handling apparatus is significantly simplified.

Moreover, the fact that at least some or even all the at least onehandling openings are aligned in one direction significantly simplifiesrealisation of the controllable doors.

In one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention workpiecesare plate shaped, preferably substrates, and pockets are slit-shaped.

In one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention at leastsome of or all neighbouring pockets are thermally narrowly coupled. Thismeans that neighbouring pockets within the metal block are locatedmutually close: The thermal state of a pocket is substantiallyuninfluenced even when a neighbouring pocket is opened, due to thethermal steady-state of the pockets in the block.

In an embodiment of the chamber according to the invention, at leastsome of the pockets, or all of the pockets, comprise one singleworkpiece handling opening.

Especially in the case where such openings are aligned along the blockin one direction, workpiece handling is additionally simplified.

In one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention the doorsare laid out to controllably obstruct and free at least one of the doorsat the time. Even if only two pockets are provided, one or both pocketsmay be simultaneously opened and/or closed.

Also when more than two pockets are provided, more than one of thedoors, e.g. two, are controllable for achieving an obstructing and/orfreeing state simultaneously.

According to one embodiment the doors are construed to controllably haveall doors obstructed together during a timespan. Thereby andirrespectively of when the doors are switched into freeing andobstructing status there exists a status of the chamber in which all thedoors are in obstructing position.

In an embodiment of the chamber according to the invention at least someor all of the at least one workpiece handling openings are aligned inone direction along the block. At least some of the doors of thesealigned openings are realised by a door-plate with at least onedoor-workpiece-handling-opening. The door-plate is controllablyslideable along and relative to the block in the addressed direction.The at least one door-workpiece-handling opening is thereby brought inand out of alignment with at least one of the aligned workpiece handlingopenings of the pockets.

If more than one door-workpiece-handling openings are provided, morethan one of the aligned workpiece-handling openings of the respectivepockets may simultaneously be freed and obstructed if, considered in theaddressed direction, the distance of door-workpiece-handling openingaccords with the distance between workpiece-handling openings of thepockets (still in the addressed direction). Even if latter is not thecase, providing more than one door-workpiece-handling openingsnevertheless shortens the sliding hubs of the door plate to bring arespective door-workpiece-handling opening in alignment with aworkpiece-handling opening of a pocket.

In one embodiment having a door-plate, the door-plate is operationallyconnected to a plate-drive. Alternatively or additionally the block isoperationally connected to a block-drive.

In the embodiments discussed until now, the block may have any desiredsuitable shape.

Now, and in one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention,the block comprises two side faces, e.g. mutually parallel faces, aswell as a front face between and linking the side faces. The heaterand/or cooler arrangement is located at or in both of the addressed sidefaces whereas the at least one workpiece handling openings of thepockets are arranged in the front face. Thereby a separation of blockareas, on one hand with the heater and/or cooler arrangement, on theother hand with handling openings, is realised. This considerablysimplifies the overall construction of the chamber.

In one embodiment of the chamber according to the invention, the blockis located within an isolating housing e.g. spaced from the isolatinghousing. The isolating housing bars heat flow between the block and thesurrounding of the chamber.

One embodiment the chamber according to the invention comprises a gasfeed line arrangement dispatching in each of the pockets and the pocketscomprise one single workpiece handling opening.

In a further embodiment the gas feed line dispatches in at least some ofthe pockets opposite to the respective doors. Thus, whenever a flushinggas flow is to be established along the workpiece, the respective doorsmay be exploited as gas outlet by establishing a desired leakage so thatthe gas flows all along the workpiece.

Any number of all embodiments of the chamber according to the inventionas addressed above may be combined if not mutually contradictory.

The present invention is further directed to an apparatus or systemwhich comprises a chamber according to the present invention andpossibly according to one or more than one of the embodiments describedabove. In such apparatus or system the chamber comprises a gas feed linearrangement dispatching in at least some or in all of the pockets. Thegas feed line is operationally connected to a gas tank arrangement whichcontains at least one of N2, of Ar and of He.

The present invention is further directed to a method of manufacturingthermally treated workpieces, especially equal workpieces, therebyespecially substrates, especially heat-degassed workpieces and makes useof a chamber or of an apparatus according to the invention, possibly ofone or more than one of its embodiments.

The method comprises establishing a pre-determined temperature of theblock.

A workpiece is loaded in at least one of the pockets, and on therespective workpiece support, after having freed a respective workpiecehandling opening of the respective pocket by the respective door.

Then the respective workpiece handling opening of the pocket loaded withthe workpiece is obstructed by the door and the workpiece is thermallytreated in the pocket.

After having freed the addressed or another workpiece handling openingof the pocket by the or a respective door the thermally treatedworkpiece is removed through the freed workpiece handling opening fromthe pocket.

In one variant of the method according to the present invention loadingand removing is performed through different workpiece handling openingsof the pocket. Thus, loading the pocket is effected through oneworkpiece handling opening of the pocket and removing is performedthrough another workpiece handling opening of the same pocket.Alternatively loading and removing is performed through the sameworkpiece handling opening of the pocket.

In one variant of the method according to the present invention morethan one workpiece is simultaneously loaded and/or removed to and/orfrom a respective number of pockets.

In one variant of the method according to the invention at least loadingof workpieces in a respective number of pockets is performed in vacuum.

In one variant of the method according to the invention at least duringthe step of thermally treating there is established a flow of a gasalong the workpiece and out of the respective pocket.

In a further variant of the method according to the invention at leastloading of the workpiece is performed in vacuum at a first pressure andthe respective pocket loaded with the workpiece is pressurized to asecond pressure which is higher than the first pressure during treatingthe workpiece.

In one variant of the method according to the invention more than onepocket are loaded with a respective workpiece. This is donesimultaneously or with a time lag. The thermal treatment of theseworkpieces is nevertheless performed during equal time spans.

Any number of all variants of the method according to the invention asaddressed above may be combined if not mutually contradictory.

The invention will now be further exemplified focused on degassing withhelp of figures. The figures show:

FIG. 1 a prior art degasser setup as described in the U.S. Pat. No.7,431,585 B2.

FIG. 2 a prior art batch degasser setup as described in the US 2011/0114623 A1.

FIG. 3 in a perspective, schematic and simplified representation thebasic design of the block of one embodiment of the degasser chamberaccording to the invention.

FIG. 4 schematically and simplified a cross section through anembodiment of the batch degasser chamber according to the invention witha block and a housing.

FIG. 5a front view of a section through a pocket of an embodiment of abatch degasser chamber according to the invention with a transfer armand indicated heat flux from the block side walls.

FIG. 5b a horizontal cross section through a pocket of an embodiment ofa batch degasser chamber according to the invention with a transfer armand indicated heat flux from the block side walls.

FIG. 6 schematically and simplified, a cross section through anembodiment of a batch degasser chamber according to the invention withvertical door-plate arrangement in “closed” position.

FIG. 7 in a representation in analogy to that of FIG. 6 the crosssections through an embodiment of the batch degasser chamber with avertical door-plate in loading (freed) position for the lowest pocket(left hand side) and for the uppermost pocket (right hand side).

FIG. 8 in a representation in analogy to that of FIG. 6 or 7 a crosssection through an embodiment of the batch degasser chamber with avertical door arrangement having “a closed position” betweenneighbouring pockets.

FIG. 9 in a representation in analogy to that of FIGS. 6 to 8 a part ofan embodiment of a batch degasser chamber according to the inventionwith two door arrangements independently driven by separate drives.

FIG. 10 in a representation in analogy to that of FIGS. 6 to 9 a crosssection through an embodiment of a batch degasser chamber according tothe invention with a vertical lift for the block in two positions.

FIG. 11 a perspective view of an embodiment of a pocket design withinthe block of a chamber according to the invention for easy manufacturingand easy cleaning.

FIG. 12 the heat up curve of a Si waver with nitrogen at a distance of 4mm from the wall of the pocket i.e. from the spacer between twoneighbouring pockets (here “comb blade”) calculated form conduction andradiative heat transfer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SOLUTION

A batch degasser according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 3.A block of thermally well conductive material 1 features a plurality ofslit-like cavities or pockets 2. The front-facing portion of the blocklocated between two adjacent pockets and labelled 3 marks a spacerbetween two pockets. The pockets may be machined from a single block ofmaterials or assembled from several elements together forming said block1. The height of each pocket is labelled g. The distance between theceiling of one pocket 2 to the next bottom of the adjacent pocket islabelled t, so the distance between two adjacent pockets is g+t. Theblock is heated by heater elements arranged on the sidewalls. By usingonly the side-walls of block 1 and leaving empty top and bottom of it, ahomogeneous temperature profile for all pockets can be achieved.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical cross section through the batch degasseraccording to the invention. The substrates 5 to be heated are positionedon pins 6 inside the pockets 2. Each of the pockets 2 is preferablysupplied by a purge gas line 7, which may be equipped with a filter 8 toavoid particles. The purge gas inlet is preferably a shallow gas cavity9 with a length pg intended to preheat the purge gas in the heateddegasser block 1 before it enters the pocket 2 itself. The gas inlet isarranged preferably in the upper portion of the pocket since it is thegoal to achieve a laminar gas flow on top of the substrate, whereoutgassing is especially required. The pocket has an inner profile (pp)which is minimizing its volume, such that just the space required forthe transfer arm is cut out of the block.

The batch degasser block is positioned in a housing 10. This housing mayinclude an appropriate isolation 11 to avoid heat loss of the block 1.This concept of a fixed position of the block inside the housing isproposed for a substrate loading system with a transfer arm having avertical drive (z-drive). The maximum number of pockets of the degasserblock is then limited by the range of the vertical z-drive.

FIG. 5 shows a front view (right) and a horizontal cross section (left)through the batch degasser with a substrate 5 placed on pins 6. Thepocket 2 is open to one side in order to allow for loading and unloadingthe substrate. On the opposite side the inner contour of the pocket isrounded to match the outer shape of a circular substrate (wafer) andthus to enable a good heat transfer inside the block. The position ofthe pins 6 allows a safe operation of the substrate with a transfer arm14 (shown during load/unload operation). The inner contour of the pocketis just machined wide enough to take up the transfer arm and thesubstrate during transfer. Consequently the pocket volume is minimizedand the spacer 3 profile is maximized so that the best possible heattransfer is supported. The purge gas line 7 is arranged opposite to theopening. Its preheating gas cavity 9 can be a single straight line 12 ora network of distributed lines (12, 13).

To reduce heat losses from each of the pockets to the environment a door15 is arranged adjacent to the heated block. This door 15 in FIG. 6 hasa flat, plate shaped design of a size essentially twice the size of thefront face of block 1. It exhibits one opening 16 of approximately thesame shape as the pocket opening, preferably arranged in the middle ofthe door as shown in FIG. 6. The door is vertically movable by a drive(not shown) in a direction shown by arrow 17. Between the door and thepocket there is a slit 18 as small as possible to minimize the gas fluxand avoid heat loss. In FIG. 6 the door is positioned with all pocketsbeing closed.

FIG. 7 shows the door being positioned to load or unload substrates inthe lowest pocket (left) and in the uppermost pocket (right). The plateshaped door allows to keep all pockets closed during a load/unloadoperation with the exception of the pocket to be accessed. The positioncan be determined either by means of a sensor or markings orelectronically with the aid of a stepper motor.

An alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 8 where the spacers 3 havesuch an increased thickness (t) that the opening in the movable door 15is being covered by the front-facing spacer area between two pockets.This has certain advantages when operating the door because there aremany “fully closed between pockets” positions (one less than the numberof pockets). There is however the disadvantage that at a given maximumheight of the degasser stack less substrates can be processed than inthe version described above.

FIG. 9 shows another alternative solution with two doors 15, 15′independently movable in the direction 17, 17′ as shown in FIG. 9. Thetwo opening slits being offset just so much to have a “closed”configuration, a through-opening can be quickly realized by aligningboth openings. This solution will allow for better thermal insulationwhile still allowing a compact arrangement of pockets as described forFIG. 6.

For all those embodiments the load operation will comprise:

-   -   Determining an empty pocket inside the degasser block. This can        be realized either by a sensor giving a respective        (occupied/free) signal or by an electronic controller        supervising the status of the pockets. Such a controller could        also transmit an “all pockets full” signal to the Load/Unload        handling system.    -   Giving access to a free pocket by aligning the opening 16/18 in        door 15/15′ with the respective opening in block 1.    -   Placing a substrate on a handler capable of performing a        z-motion (i.e. vertically in embodiments according to FIGS. 6-9)        and aligning the handler with the door    -   Introducing the substrate through the opening 16/18 in door        15/15′ into pocket 2    -   Placing the substrate on pins 6    -   Retracting the handler from the pocket    -   Closing the opening to pocket 2 depending on the a.m. closing        options (FIG. 6, 8, 9)

If a transfer arm with a vertical drive is not available, an alternativesolution could be to vertically move whole block 1 inside the housing 10by a drive 17 as sketched in FIG. 10. In this case there is one opening19 located at a defined position in the housing 10 which can be also beclosed or avoided by the z-movement of the block. FIG. 10 shows the“closed” position and the position to load or unload the lowest pocketof the block in the same sketch. The purge gas line 7 has to support thevertical movement by a flexible line prior to the optional gas filter 8.

All those door variants have in common that they do not need a flap ortiltable cover arrangement for the access opening and that notindividual doors per pocket are required. The drive(s) for the verticaldisplacement of the door plate(s) 15, 15′ may be arranged above or belowblock 1 and will thus not block any space where the loading andunloading operation takes place.

A further requirement for a batch degasser is that it needs to becleaned efficiently from time to time. Outgassing material may condenseand accumulate at certain cool spots and result in contaminatedsurfaces, flaking or dust. The design sketched in FIG. 11 has theadvantage of a simplified manufacturing of the pockets and also theireasy cleaning. In an Al block a cavity is machined from the top,including a cut-out for the transfer arm, an edge to position thesubstrate (instead of pins) and the gas inlet. The pocket plate hasholes on all the 4 corners to stack or pile any number of degas pocketplates in an easy way. The heaters are installed on the side wall of theblock as shown in FIG. 1. It has to be mentioned that for regularapplications with rigid substrates the cut-out for the transfer arm canbe minimized since the transfer arm in atmospheric environment can holda substrate with a vacuum gripper. In this case, for releasing thesubstrate no or only a small movement away (downwards in case of FIG.11) is necessary to allow the retraction of the handler/gripper.

An important feature of the invention is that the block 1 is made ofthermally well conducting material and is embedded in a housing 10,which supports preserving a uniform temperature profile. The door 15also contributes to this temperature uniformity. As soon as a substrateis loaded into one of the pockets 2 a temporarily heat drain will occur.Example: To heat up a silicon wafer with 300 mm diameter and 0.77 mmthickness from room temperature to 150° C. requires energy of 11 kJoule.If this energy can be received from a slab of aluminium as the suggestedspacer 3 with 320 mm diameter and 5 mm thickness, the temperature ofthis spacer would be reduced by 17° C. However the heat exchange betweenthe substrate and the spacer 3 is relatively slow compared to the heatconductivity within the block 1, so that with the help of the heaterelements 4 the block will not experience relevant temperaturenon-uniformity.

The proposed batch degasser is preferably run at atmospheric pressure.However the basic ideas may be applied for low pressure degassing. Aneffective conductive heat transfer is possible if the gas pressure is >1kPa.

Nitrogen is the preferred purge gas since it avoids possible oxidationof pre-processed devices on the substrate. The heat conductivity ofnitrogen is fairly good (see table below) and it has a low price. Argonor Helium may also be used. Helium has superior heat conductivity,however in this case it may be necessary to keep the leak rate low forcost reasons. On the other hand nitrogen has a better momentum transferto the molecules to be removed, like water vapor due to similar masses.

N2 0.026 W/m K

Ar 0.0167 W/m K

He 0.149 W/m K

FIG. 12 shows the heat up of a Si wafer with nitrogen measured at adistance of 4 mm from the spacer under the equipment and waferparameters shown in the table below. The calculation includes conductiveradiative heat transfer within the pocket.

Equipment Parameter Wafer Parameter time step 1 sec density 2330 kg/m3 Twafer start  24° C. heat capacity 703 Ws/kgK T chuck 150° C. waferthickness 0.77 mm eps Cavity up 0.4 eps backside 0.6 T Cavity 150° C.eps frontside 0.6 eps Cavity up 0.4 area ratio 1 gas conductivity 0.026W/mK gap wafer to cavity 4 mm alpha 6.5 W/m2K

A process sequence for a batch degasser according to the invention withn pockets may look like the following:

-   -   Heat block 1 to a temperature set point, typically 150° C.    -   Position door 15 to the lowest pocket #1    -   Load a substrate into pocket #1    -   Position door 15 in a closed position    -   Adjust a flow of nitrogen to about 50 to 1000 sscm, preferably        100 sscm, in pocket #1    -   Repeat steps 3 to 5 for pocket #2 up to pocket #n

Unloading will happen as follows, here described for pocket #1:

-   -   Switch off the nitrogen flow in pocket #1    -   Position the door to pocket #1    -   Unload the substrate from pocket #1 to the vacuum load lock of        the deposition tool. This should happen in the shortest possible        time to avoid cool down of the substrate or condensation.    -   Load a new substrate in pocket #1

For a continuous processing of substrates the load/unload sequence isrepeated accordingly. The sequence above basically describes a FIFO(first in first out) behaviour. However, this may not be necessary whensufficient substrates in block 1 have reached a thermal equilibrium,then a random access could be realized also.

SUMMARY OF FEATURES

A batch degasser setup including:

A compact block made of a material with good heat conductivity with 6 to50 cut out pockets. The block may be made from a single piece orassembled from individual parts to form one compact block as describedabove.

This block being heated from the side walls and located in an insulatedhousing.

The pockets having a minimal volume for safe substrate handling on pinsin this pocket, cut out to enable a good heat transfer from the sidewall of the block to the inner surface of the pocket.

The spacers between the pockets having a minimal height and designed forproviding an optimized heat transfer to the loaded substrate.

A sliding door between the block and the housing only opening the pocketwhere a substrate is required to be loaded or unloaded.

Providing for the sliding door at least one position where all pocketsare closed.

Alternatively a design where the whole block is moving in the housingand a slot in the housing serves as shut-off for the pockets.

A method to use a batch degasser as described above:

In a continuous mode, so that each wafer stays in a pocket for the sametime (FIFO).

Using nitrogen or another gas to transfer heat and flush degassingmaterial.

Preferably, allowing a minimal time for transfer of the substrate to avacuum load lock of the deposition tool to avoid unnecessary cool down.Consequently the substrate may stay in the pocket until an empty loadlock is available.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A heater and/or cooler chamber for a batchof workpieces, comprising: a block of metal made of a single metal partor of plural metal parts, and mutually spaced pockets within said blockand stationary with respect to said block; in each pocket, a workpiecesupport for at least one of the workpieces each pocket having at leastone workpiece handling opening in a surface of said block, each pocketsurrounding the respective at least one of the workpieces applied on theworkpiece support in a noncontact, closely spaced manner each of the atleast one workpiece handling openings of said pockets being operativelyconnected to a door controllably freeing and obstructing the respectiveworkpiece handling opening, a heater and/or cooler interfacearrangement, a gas feed line arrangement with gas feed lines dispatchinggas respectively into at least some of the pockets wherein the gas feedlines extend in the block and dispatch gas into the pockets opposite theat least one workpiece handling opening of the respective pockets, andare directed toward said at least one workpiece handling opening.
 2. Thechamber of claim 1, comprising a heater and/or cooler arrangementprovided in or at a distinct outer area of said block.
 3. The chamber ofclaim 1, at least some or all of said pockets being substantiallygas-tight when the workpiece handling opening is obstructed by said dooror at least some or all of said pockets having a gas outlet adjacentsaid door.
 4. The chamber of claim 1, at least some or all of saidpockets being aligned along said block in one direction.
 5. The chamberof claim 1, at least some or all of said at least one openings of saidpockets being aligned in one direction along said block.
 6. The chamberof claim 1, wherein workpieces are plate shaped, preferably substrates,and pockets are slit-shaped.
 7. The chamber according to claim 1,wherein at least some or all of neighbouring pockets are thermallynarrowly coupled.
 8. The chamber according to claim 1, at least some orall of said pockets comprising one single workpiece-handling opening. 9.The chamber according to claim 1, respective doors of said handlingopenings being controllable to obstruct and free at least one of saidworkpiece handling openings at a time, or more than one of saidworkpiece handling openings_simultaneously, and/or said respective doorsbeing controllable to have all workpiece handling openings obstructedtogether during a time span.
 10. The chamber according to claim 1,wherein at least some or all of the at least one workpiece handlingopenings are aligned in one direction and at least some or all of therespective doors are realized by a door-plate with at least onedoor-workpiece-handling opening, said door-plate being controllablyslidable along and relative to said block in said direction so as toselectively bring said at least one door-workpiece-handling opening inand out of alignment with at least one of said alignedworkpiece-handling openings of said pockets.
 11. The chamber of claim10, wherein said door-plate is operationally connected to a plate-drivefor said relative sliding.
 12. The chamber of claim 10, wherein saidblock is operationally connected to a block-drive for said relativesliding.
 13. The chamber of claim 2, wherein said block comprises twoside faces and a front face and said heater and/or cooler arrangement islocated at or in both side faces, said at least one workpiece handlingopening is arranged in said front face.
 14. The chamber of claim 1,wherein said block is mounted within a thermally isolating housing. 15.The chamber of claim 1, said gas feed line arrangement comprising a gastank arrangement containing at least one of N2, Ar, He.
 16. A method ofmanufacturing thermally treated workpieces using a chamber according toclaim 1, and comprising the steps of: establishing a predeterminedtemperature at said heater and/or cooler interface arrangement; loadinga workpiece in at least one of said pockets, and on the respectiveworkpiece support, after having freed a respective workpiece handlingopening of the respective pocket by the respective door; obstructing therespective workpiece handling opening of the pocket, loaded with saidworkpiece; thermally treating said workpiece in said pocket, therebyestablishing at least one of a gas pressure and a gas flow from saidrespective gas feed line toward said respective workpiece handlingopening or another workpiece handling opening, along said workpiece andout of the pocket; freeing said or another workpiece handling opening ofthe pocket by a respective door; and removing said thermally treatedworkpiece through said freed workpiece handling.
 17. The method of claim16, comprising performing said loading and said removing throughdifferent workpiece handling openings of said pocket.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, comprising loading and/or removing more than one workpiecesimultaneously to and/or from a respective number of said pockets. 19.The method of claim 16, wherein at least said loading is performed invacuum.
 20. The method of claim 19, comprising establishing said gasflow out of said opening.
 21. The method of claim 16, thereby performingat least said loading in vacuum at a first pressure and comprisingpressurizing the respective pocket, loaded with a workpiece, to a secondpressure, higher than said first pressure by said gas feed lines. 22.The method of claim 16, comprising loading more than one pocket with arespective workpiece simultaneously or with a time lag and performingsaid thermal treating of said more than one workpieces during equal timespans.
 23. The chamber of claim 3, at least some or all of said pocketshaving a gas outlet defined by said door.
 24. The chamber of claim 1,said block being contoured to define said pockets, each pocketsurrounding a workpiece therein with a material of said block.